Production of iron from iron ore



June 28, 1938. F. DUFFIELD 2,122,197

' PRODUCTION OF IRON FROM IRON ORE Filed May 4, 1937 k 3 Sheets-Shegt l June 28,1938. F-L-DUFFlEl-D 2,122,197

PRODUCTION OF IRON FROM'IRON ORE Filed ma 4, 19s? 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 1938- F. L. DUFFIELD PRODUCTION OF IRON FROM IRON ORE Filed May 4, 19:57 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 45 m'xed w reqmmdquanmy of granulated to say the length should not exceed three times 45 o ex qsure t the e ec o r e vxidlzinglrfur- The-invention ill te-oestntea wnn reiereneeto,

Patented June 28, 1938 I I I UNiTED STATES PATENT, OFFICE Frederick Lindley Dumeid, London, England Application May '4, 1937, Serial No. 140,618

. In Great Britain May 6, 1936 2 Claims. (Cl. 75- -29) This invention relates to the production of iron cient to cause the slag to become viscous, with from iron ore. attendant wail adhesion, it floats on the surface Existing methods for producing molten iron of such slag, and in that position exposes its carof high purity are founded on the principle of bon contents to oxidation by the furnace gases, purifying the crude product of the blast furnace such carbon thus faiiingin its .intended duty of 5 by treatment in the Bessemer or open hearth furreduction of the iron oxides. naces. The object of the present invention is to I It has been found by experimentation that obtain pure iron (99.84%) directly from the ore, these defects which operate'against the practical thereby avoiding the inclusion of impurities accomplishment of producing an iron conglomerwhich entail subsequent elimination by refining ate or matter direct from the ore can be overm methods. come by the present invention.

In the past the production of so-called sponge According to the present invention the iron iron, i. e. iron produced at temperatures below ore is mixed in a granulated state with carbofusion point, has been attempted to secure a base 1111060118 material, moulded int0 Slabs, w of high purity which is intended for melting in briquettes or other shaped bodies and charged some suitable kind of furnace. into a furnace heated interiorly by combustion so Great difficulty has been experienced in prothat they fall into and are submerged in a bath ducing sponge iron in a practical manner, and of molten slag contained in said furnace, wherethe applicant has found that even if economical b t e sla constitutes a pr c ve coating for production "of sponge iron were accomplished, he shaped bodies, protecting them against the 20 the product, due to its powdery state and l w oxidizing atmosphere of the oxidizing gases in conductivity due to excessive porosity, is an exthe furnace, and e reduction proceeds Within tremely inconvenient and 'difficult material to the slag coating by a n of e absorbed melt efilciently in any kind of furnace. from the slag, whereupon the ore is reduced and One of the advantages claimed in the producthe iron Pa c s d op to t b t d c 25 tion of sponge iron as an int rm d t product lesceand can be removed from the furnace in for molten iron and steel production is its adaptthe form f v lya e masses of semiability for concentration ,of its iron contents by molten with some included eemagnetic separation. The applicant has found l The Slag can he removed from the iron mass from long experience that the iron contents or d ed om the reductiolr amber by sub- 80 the majority ofores is so intimately phy sequent treatment in an electric or other furcombined with its gangue matter that the naceieltematively t e sla may be'r m ed by a latter becomes entrained in that which is magmechanical Squeezing p fi netic, and no suflicient elimination of the or The p c s ay be ca ied ou in a pa tu inai gangue matter of'the ore is achiev d t r comprising an oscillating furnace provided with 35 der the process serviceable-orfpracticable. a (1001 for the discharge of e reduced metal, it

There hav gbeen attempts in" the past to retaphole f d s ha i sla m ans forcha sine duce and melt or semi-melt iron ore in rotary the furnace, means for admitting heating gases furnaces, "but by long "g 'fi n it has been into the furnace and an additional air inlet adja- 40 found that certain salie'ntprinciples are necest tothe exit" flue forJthe a this any for its practical" and economical accomlast inlet i arranged solthat the plishment: I I i zniigedtthfezfiby haste direction which is" opposed I I t t.'-: O a (II e'Ou 8 38.565.

Wh en granulated vor. p h furnace should be of squat shape, that is red iron ore: vis

ior ppm topmduqtiqn whet-ha firstly the diameter so that in this way a substantially idiregflyintorotary uniformtemperature sufficiently-highto mainn furnace, upon semi-fusion it adheres to the side tam the 5 n a 'kfl id statecan'be i tained wallsof the revolving,;furnace, incurring maxilthrdfighoufithefumace e l a I nece s e ti c bum :t t li to the accompanying" drawings 'which' illustrate added for; t lpu-r os f filling t u tionof one formiof apparatus which may bewused for -reduction,-and a:poor resultis: inevitable. carrying; out the, i e ti .1; Evendf fed/upon. abath bf-rmoltenslag atlsuch .Fig. l illustrates a vertical sectionlof the appa- -a-=-rat,e that its-urapid"heatiabsorption;iscinsuflb ratus; 3

' in the wall of the passage 1'. and is directed towards the interior of the furnace, i. e. in a direcon rollers b, b. Fuel consisting of coal dust and air is admitted tangentially through aperture c and additional air is admitted tangentially through aperture d arranged in acylindrlcal end chamber e. The other ehd of the furnace is provided with a main charging passage 1 and an auxiliary charging passage 9 arranged in the wall of the charging passage ,f. The passage f also constitutes an exit flue for the gases ofcombustion, and is completed by a movable flue k mounted on rollers so that it can be moved away from the passage i when it is desired to charge through this passage. An auxiliary air jet Z is provided tion which is opposed to that of the exit gases. A discharge door m is provided in the wall of the furnace remote from a tangentially disposed taphole n for slag.

In order to carry out the process according to the present invention the iron ore to be reduced is granulated and mixed with a corresponding quantity of granulated carbon sumcient to effect the reduction of the iron oxides and attendant moisture, and is pressed or moulded into blocks or briquettes with a suitable binding agent. The binding agent may beomitted if desired, as it is not absolutely essential in themoulding operation.

Slag is introduced first intothe furnace and is heated by admitting burning gases from the inlet apertures c and d until the slag is molten. This molten slag forms a liquid bed on the bottom of the furnace into which the moulded blocks are introduced by charging either through the charging passage f, if the movable flue k is removed, or through the charging passage 9', if the movable flue k is in the position shown in Fig. 1. The momentum of the blocks or briquettes as they are charged into the furnace causes them momen-' tarily to be fully submerged in the molten slag, which adheres to the colder surface of the block or briquette and providesan enveloping protection against oxidation.

The low conductivity of the block or brlquette, by reason of its thicknesscompared with small granular pieces of ore and coal, prevents a too sudden and rapid absorption of heat which would render the receiving bath of slag surllciently viscous to adhere to the walls of the furnace.

It is essential that the'slag should remain fluid, and this is assisted by the slower uptake of heat which, in gradually penetrating the blocks or briquettes, effects reduction of the oxide contents at low temperature which is controlled by the limits of its low conductivity. Complete reduction is effected by this gradual heat penetration without disturbing the equilibrium ofheat supply and demand of combustibles and fluid slag respectively.

By making the furnace of relatively squat shape, that is to say not too long relatively to its diameter, the slag melting temperature is retained throughout the whole length. If the length of the furnace were too long relatively to its width it will be evident that the temperature at the outlet end of the furnace would fall below that required 'for making and maintaining the slag fluid, so that the latter will adhere to the wall of the furnace and thus cause obstruction. Another reason for keeping the slag fluid at .below its fusion point.

. endof the furnace. a

All the air admitted through the various air in- 55 all times throughout the period of operation is to enable the reduction of the iron oxides by carbon to proceed and be completed at the low temperatures, regulated by the conductivity of the thickness of the mass constituting the block 0r,- briquette.

At temperatures ranging between 1150 C. and 1400" 0. fusion of the oxides of iron in combination with silica is effected, producing ferroussili- I cates, so that little or no practical reduction by 10 carbon takes place, since silica at such temperatures has a greater afiinity for iron oxides than carbon. Consequently unless the oxides of iron are reduced at temperatures below their fusion point, as provided by slow heat penetration of the block or briquette, a preponderance of reaction is in the formation of ferrous silicates. Thus if granulated ore and carbon were fed in a loose (non-briquetted) state on to a fluid slag, the respective particles of iron oxide and carbon would fall in their desired reaction, the iron oxidecombining with the silica present in the slag and the carbon being lost by the oxidation of the furnace gases.

At temperatures higher than 1400 C. the ferrous silicates dissociate= if suficient carbon and lime be present, and metallic iron is precipitated, but the formation of ferrous silicates is un-'- desirable, firstly because of their erosive efiect on any furnace lining, and further the metallic iron :80 thus precipitated has not that purity that is obtained by its direct reduction at temperatures To retain theslag in a state of fluidity advantage is taken of the low rate of heat transfer to the block or briquette, B5 and the rate of feeding the charge is regulated to coincide with the heat supply.-

As the reduction proceeds the blocks disinte grate and the iron particles drop to the bottom of thefurnace and coalesce into one or more 40 masses. When thereduction is finished the slag is first drawn off through the taphole n and the masses of coalesced iron particles are subsequently discharged by gravity by rotating the furnace so that gravitation is lowermost. A sufficient quantity of slag is then reintroduced into the fur- The combustible gases which emanate from the blocks in process of reduction are burned before '50 leaving the furnace by means of the auxiliary air admitted through the air jet l, which helps to maintain the required temperature at the outlet lets may be pre-heated, for example by contact in arecuperator or regenerator with theheat of the combustion products after leaving the oscillating fiu'nace, either prior to or after such combustion products have been partially used for calcining or drying the ore before being formedinto briquettes.

The oscillating furnace shown in the drawings rotates approximately 270 in one direction and then through a corresponding angle in the reverse direction. Other forms of furnace may be used for carrying out the process according to the invention.

It has been found by experience that whereas sponge iron presents the utmost difficulty in melting in the electric furnace by reason of its poor heat conductive power caused by its excessive porosity, the conglomerate mass obtained according to the present invention readily yields to the heat of the electric furnace, and a rapid melt lsi..

- against the oxidizing atmosphere of the oxidizing ensues with eflicient separation of the molten metal and the minimum of metallic inclusions in the slag. v

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. Process forproducing iron from iron ore which consists in mixingthe iron ore in a granulated state with carbonaceous material, moulding the mixture into blocks, slabs, briquettes or other shaped bodies and charging the said shaped bodies into a furnace heated interiorlyiby combustion so that they fall into and are submerged in a bath of molten slag contained in said furnace, whereby the slag constitutes a protective coating for the shaped bodies, protecting them gases in the furnace, and the reduction proceeds within the slag coating by reason of heat absorbed from the slag, whereupon the'ore is reduced and the iron particles drop to the bottom andcoalesce and can be removed irom the furnace in the form of relatively large masses of semi-molten iron with some included slag.

2. Process according to claim 1 further consisting in admitting a separate supply of air into the furnace in a direction opposed to that of the outlet gases for burning the gaseous reaction products resulting from the reactionbetween the iron ore and carbon of the blocks or the like.

FREDERICK LINDLEY DUFFIELD. 

